Doing things differently, thinking differently & leading the way are some of our core behaviours here at FreeMynd. So when everyone starts to walk in one direction, the first thing we want to do is look in another direction.
Usually we come up with incredible solutions that way.
Sometimes, we just do it out of habit, without an outcome in mind. Like recently, when I considered buying an iPad.
It seems to me, that every man, women & dog has an iSomething these days, phones, music players, entertainment gadgets, laptops, desktops and more recently tablets… which is nothing exciting really… if you ask your local apple store what the difference is between the iTouch and the iPad, screen size & resolution are about the only thing they can come up with. Which makes me laugh at all the people who stood in line for hours to get one, only to then go online and post threads on forums asking when a new model is planned with a smaller screen for easier portability. MORONS!!!
What the fuck is the big deal about a large iTouch?
Aside from the thousands of widgets (A widget is what an “app” has been knows as since long before apple put them on a phone), the new apple branded hand held devices offer nothing to the consumer other than use friendly interface & the illusion that owning one of these bad boys make you cool.
Widgets have existed for over a decade. The OVI store (Nokia’s widget development co) is the largest app developer in the world so there’s nothing that an iPhone can do, that a Nokia can’t (nothing worth doing that is). Come to think of it, there’s nothing that the original iPhone (released in 2007) can do, that an IMATE (a Microsoft phone) couldn’t do in 2004.
So not only is the technology old, but they couldn’t even come up with better naming… I-MATE becomes iPhone. How fucking ingenious is that?
Ok, so I’m not going to deny that the user interface is leaps & bounds ahead of any MS device, and I’m also not going to deny that the operating systems in anything apple are superior to androids and windows operating systems.
But seriously… all this hype for a better OS and a cool interface?
I don’t know about you… but for me, a better OS and a cool interface is not enough to overcome
1. The fact that everyone has an iSomething, making them common.
2. The fact that hardware is lagging behind, 5MP cameras facing forward & back, only came out on the iPhone4, where as they have been on other 3G phones for 2 years now (which is a lifetime in hardware advancement)
3. The fact that apple used to put computers in schools to win-over the kids (reminding me of another brand’s brain-washing strategy)
4. The fact that Apple and its esteemed leader have no philanthropic activity of any sort (aside from the above, which they no longer do, now that they are cool)
5. And lastly, the fact that Steve Jobs, apart from being a good speaker, seems to be a total wanker.
Bottom line… credit is given where credit is due. Great OS, user-friendly interface, brilliant advertising (which somehow takes the previous geeky advantages and makes them cool) and a CEO with great public speaking skills.
Otherwise, iPhones, iTouch, iPads are left wanting… (don’t even get me started on iPods)
These apples are rotten and about as healthy as McDonalds
Monday, October 25, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
P.I. [Part 2 - A personal PI]
So we talked about business PI. What about personal PI?
I see clients daily with personal conflict, “I want to do this but I want to do that, and I can’t because I blabla”, or “part of me is… but another part of me is…” and other similar problems.
You’re not sure what you want to do moving forward so you stress about the decision, and even worse, you stay stuck where you are, because no action/decision is a safer choice than wrong action/decision… right?
Actually, it is total rubbish.
“More is lost through indecision than through bad decision.” And remaining stuck in your unhappy state is not the solution. So how do you make the decision easily?
A personal PI is the solution.
Everyone should have a PI. Perceived Identity is the sum of your personal mission, purpose, values and maybe even goals.
Have you written a personal mission statement? If I asked your friends about you, would they all say the same thing when they describe you? Or would they have different perceptions of you depending on where they know you from?
Not sure if this can have an impact? Do it and find out for yourself.
Write a mission statement, a purpose statement and your values list. Then see if you are living up to your identity.
Doing this will give you a clear PI, and having a clear PI will go a long way to eliminating uncertainty in your life.
I see clients daily with personal conflict, “I want to do this but I want to do that, and I can’t because I blabla”, or “part of me is… but another part of me is…” and other similar problems.
You’re not sure what you want to do moving forward so you stress about the decision, and even worse, you stay stuck where you are, because no action/decision is a safer choice than wrong action/decision… right?
Actually, it is total rubbish.
“More is lost through indecision than through bad decision.” And remaining stuck in your unhappy state is not the solution. So how do you make the decision easily?
A personal PI is the solution.
Everyone should have a PI. Perceived Identity is the sum of your personal mission, purpose, values and maybe even goals.
Have you written a personal mission statement? If I asked your friends about you, would they all say the same thing when they describe you? Or would they have different perceptions of you depending on where they know you from?
Not sure if this can have an impact? Do it and find out for yourself.
Write a mission statement, a purpose statement and your values list. Then see if you are living up to your identity.
Doing this will give you a clear PI, and having a clear PI will go a long way to eliminating uncertainty in your life.
On Religion & Abuse
I posted a status update on my Facebook page recently that stirred a shitstorm, thought I'd open it up to the public for anyone to have access to.
"Max Freemynd questions the role of religion in support abuse & rape. Christian women feel obliged to stay in abusive marriages, Muslim women can't say 'NO', and Jewish women fear shaming the community so they don't speak up"
What's your view?
"Max Freemynd questions the role of religion in support abuse & rape. Christian women feel obliged to stay in abusive marriages, Muslim women can't say 'NO', and Jewish women fear shaming the community so they don't speak up"
What's your view?
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
P.I. - [Part 1, Branding is Dead]
Branding is dead
Part 1
Ok, so before you start getting your panties in a bunch, let me clarify that “perceived identity” formerly known as “brand” is not dead, in fact it is more important than ever. What I’m killing here is the word ‘Brand’.
A brand is defined as "the identifying elements of a specific product, service, or business. A brand can take many forms, including a name, sign, symbol, color combination or slogan. The word brand began simply as a way to tell one person's cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp."
The above is not what modern “branding” is about. “Branding” has evolved, and to avoid confusion and stupid mistakes by stupid marketers, let’s leave the name ‘Brand’ in the past along with its original definition and come up with a new name to describe the modern version which encompasses so much more than the physical elements that differentiate one company/product/service from another.
I call it P.I. or ‘perceived identity’. Because it is a more accurate representation than ‘brand’
Thoughts?
Tweet
Part 1
Ok, so before you start getting your panties in a bunch, let me clarify that “perceived identity” formerly known as “brand” is not dead, in fact it is more important than ever. What I’m killing here is the word ‘Brand’.
A brand is defined as "the identifying elements of a specific product, service, or business. A brand can take many forms, including a name, sign, symbol, color combination or slogan. The word brand began simply as a way to tell one person's cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp."
The above is not what modern “branding” is about. “Branding” has evolved, and to avoid confusion and stupid mistakes by stupid marketers, let’s leave the name ‘Brand’ in the past along with its original definition and come up with a new name to describe the modern version which encompasses so much more than the physical elements that differentiate one company/product/service from another.
I call it P.I. or ‘perceived identity’. Because it is a more accurate representation than ‘brand’
Thoughts?
Tweet
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The Myth of Abundance.
It’s the end of a decade and a time for new thinking.
The debate that marked the last decade has been what I call “the myth of abundance”. And I hope to build a bridge for everyone to ust get over the whole thing. "The Secret" is a delusion.
Thomas Troward, a great philosopher in my opinion, was a leader in his time, one of the founders of “The New Thought Movement” suggested that thought precedes physical form and that "the action of Mind plants that nucleus which, if allowed to grow undisturbed, will eventually attract to itself all the conditions necessary for its manifestation in outward visible form."
He was credited with inspiring the movie “The Secret” and the laws of attraction as we know them today. In fact if you watch the film again you will see that even the film makers credit him with the concept during the introduction.
Thomas Troward, died in 1916. An important fact when considering the myth of abundance, because it is important to understand that “The Secret” along with the laws of attraction became such big influencers in the last decade not because they were insightful or even true, but because of a successful marketing strategy.
To be clear, Thomas Troward's new thought movement has nothing to do with the pop-culture that is known as The Laws of Attraction, which I call the Myth of abundance.
The problem with the modern interpretation is that is wildly inaccurate. The thought of a Ferrari does not attract a real Ferrari, nor is possible for Ziyi Zhang, Megan Fox & Helen Mirren to all morph into my dream women and bare three children for me, no matter how much I meditate on that image.
Larry King was quoted for saying “If the Universe manifests abundance at a mere thought, why is there so much poverty, starvation, and killing?" He has valid point, but he too is inaccurate.
The point I want you get from this, is that Abundance does exist, but only in everything that matters.
Money, gold, property investments, Ferraris & Louis Vuitton fall under different laws. The laws of scarcity. Scarcity drives all material things. Often referred to as the principle law of economics “demand & supply” where scarcity makes the world go round.
The law of abundance however, applies to the little things we spend so little time chasing… you know… knowledge, love, passion, joy, nature. These are the pursuits that manifest abundance because the more you give, the more you have. And the opposite is true also. This is true abundance.
So now that I have ended the debate on whether “The Secret” is a reality or a hoax. Now that you understand that it is neither & both, depending on what you are investing your life in… lets move past it. Let’s use this knowledge constructively.
Put simply.
• Abundance can only exist if the opposite (Scarcity) also exists.
• Material pursuits should be governed by the laws of scarcity.
• Virtue & wisdom rule the world of abundance.
• To experience either, chose your pursuit carefully.
Thomas Troward also proposed another concept, much less discussed and far more relevant in today’s world. The law of Cause & Effect. Your thoughts & actions have consequences both directly and indirectly, so choose them with great care.
You now know this, and you have no excuse for pretending otherwise. So I will leave you with one more quote, a Freemynd once said “knowledge that is not shared & invested in action, is far worse than ignorance” and my question to you is, what will you do with knowledge?
Tweet
The debate that marked the last decade has been what I call “the myth of abundance”. And I hope to build a bridge for everyone to ust get over the whole thing. "The Secret" is a delusion.
Thomas Troward, a great philosopher in my opinion, was a leader in his time, one of the founders of “The New Thought Movement” suggested that thought precedes physical form and that "the action of Mind plants that nucleus which, if allowed to grow undisturbed, will eventually attract to itself all the conditions necessary for its manifestation in outward visible form."
He was credited with inspiring the movie “The Secret” and the laws of attraction as we know them today. In fact if you watch the film again you will see that even the film makers credit him with the concept during the introduction.
Thomas Troward, died in 1916. An important fact when considering the myth of abundance, because it is important to understand that “The Secret” along with the laws of attraction became such big influencers in the last decade not because they were insightful or even true, but because of a successful marketing strategy.
To be clear, Thomas Troward's new thought movement has nothing to do with the pop-culture that is known as The Laws of Attraction, which I call the Myth of abundance.
The problem with the modern interpretation is that is wildly inaccurate. The thought of a Ferrari does not attract a real Ferrari, nor is possible for Ziyi Zhang, Megan Fox & Helen Mirren to all morph into my dream women and bare three children for me, no matter how much I meditate on that image.
Larry King was quoted for saying “If the Universe manifests abundance at a mere thought, why is there so much poverty, starvation, and killing?" He has valid point, but he too is inaccurate.
The point I want you get from this, is that Abundance does exist, but only in everything that matters.
Money, gold, property investments, Ferraris & Louis Vuitton fall under different laws. The laws of scarcity. Scarcity drives all material things. Often referred to as the principle law of economics “demand & supply” where scarcity makes the world go round.
The law of abundance however, applies to the little things we spend so little time chasing… you know… knowledge, love, passion, joy, nature. These are the pursuits that manifest abundance because the more you give, the more you have. And the opposite is true also. This is true abundance.
So now that I have ended the debate on whether “The Secret” is a reality or a hoax. Now that you understand that it is neither & both, depending on what you are investing your life in… lets move past it. Let’s use this knowledge constructively.
Put simply.
• Abundance can only exist if the opposite (Scarcity) also exists.
• Material pursuits should be governed by the laws of scarcity.
• Virtue & wisdom rule the world of abundance.
• To experience either, chose your pursuit carefully.
Thomas Troward also proposed another concept, much less discussed and far more relevant in today’s world. The law of Cause & Effect. Your thoughts & actions have consequences both directly and indirectly, so choose them with great care.
You now know this, and you have no excuse for pretending otherwise. So I will leave you with one more quote, a Freemynd once said “knowledge that is not shared & invested in action, is far worse than ignorance” and my question to you is, what will you do with knowledge?
Tweet
Monday, October 4, 2010
Follow & Tweet
A Good Deed For A Tweet.
Update - Week 1
a week on and it's starting to look like it's settling down. between the blog, twitter, and linked, we have 11 new followers. that's 11 hours of pro-bono coaching. Posibility of needing to hire a coach for pro-bono work only = 0.
Update - Day 1.
it's been 24 hours since the original post, and we have 5 new followers. 4 new ones on the blog, and one on Twitter. None have shared the link on their profiles yet, as far as I can tell, but I still think it's a great start. Let's aim for a full week of free coaching to those in need by Sunday night.
thats 40 hours of pro-bono coaching. 35 new followers by Sunday. Can we do it? can you help spread the word?
Orinigal Post:
A Good Deed For A Tweet.
Would you take 4 minutes of your time, to do a good deed that could potentially save someone’s life, or at least drastically improve it.
Finish this article to the end, “follow” me on Blogger or Twitter & “tweet” about it. For every new follower I get, I will donate an hour of free coaching to a Support Organizations (victim support, child abuse, women’s refuge, refugees, etc…)
For the last couple of months, busy as I am, starting a business, I keep thinking that I’ve got to do something “pro bono publico” or “for the good of the public”. It is one of my personal passions, one of the core values of my company and part of my mission statement, so I am determined to make it work.
The problem is, time.
My time, when not with a client, is invested in sales calls, marketing activity, networking, and preparing training programs content. If I’m not earning much, and not generating interest in what I’m doing, I won’t have much to donate, and as such these activities have taken priority… until now.
This morning, feeling determined & creative, I decided on 2 things and I’m taking action.
1st, I contacted Vinnies “St Vincent de Paul Society Charities” offering my services, they sound a bit “red-tape-ee” but I’m pushing through.
2nd, this blog. I thought why not combine both, good will & marketing in one go, hence my request to you now.
Follow the blog or follow me on Twitter & tweet about this post to generate traffic & followers to help me promote this blog & my new business, and for everyone who does that, I will log one hour of pro bono coaching to a non-profit organisation. And just to make sure this is genuine, I am creating a public log showing all organizations who will receive the coaching, and the number of hours completed.
1- Tweet this post
and
2- follow me on Twitter (so I can keep track of tweets)
If you don't have a twitter account, post about this blog on your LinkedIn
Current number of blog followers = 3
Current number of twitter followers = 2
Current number of tweets about FreeMynd = 0
ps. If you happen to know of, or be involved in a non-profit support organization that can benefit from some life coaching or training, email me on max@freemynd.com.au so we can discuss in more detail.
Update - Week 1
a week on and it's starting to look like it's settling down. between the blog, twitter, and linked, we have 11 new followers. that's 11 hours of pro-bono coaching. Posibility of needing to hire a coach for pro-bono work only = 0.
Update - Day 1.
it's been 24 hours since the original post, and we have 5 new followers. 4 new ones on the blog, and one on Twitter. None have shared the link on their profiles yet, as far as I can tell, but I still think it's a great start. Let's aim for a full week of free coaching to those in need by Sunday night.
thats 40 hours of pro-bono coaching. 35 new followers by Sunday. Can we do it? can you help spread the word?
Orinigal Post:
A Good Deed For A Tweet.
Would you take 4 minutes of your time, to do a good deed that could potentially save someone’s life, or at least drastically improve it.
Finish this article to the end, “follow” me on Blogger or Twitter & “tweet” about it. For every new follower I get, I will donate an hour of free coaching to a Support Organizations (victim support, child abuse, women’s refuge, refugees, etc…)
For the last couple of months, busy as I am, starting a business, I keep thinking that I’ve got to do something “pro bono publico” or “for the good of the public”. It is one of my personal passions, one of the core values of my company and part of my mission statement, so I am determined to make it work.
The problem is, time.
My time, when not with a client, is invested in sales calls, marketing activity, networking, and preparing training programs content. If I’m not earning much, and not generating interest in what I’m doing, I won’t have much to donate, and as such these activities have taken priority… until now.
This morning, feeling determined & creative, I decided on 2 things and I’m taking action.
1st, I contacted Vinnies “St Vincent de Paul Society Charities” offering my services, they sound a bit “red-tape-ee” but I’m pushing through.
2nd, this blog. I thought why not combine both, good will & marketing in one go, hence my request to you now.
Follow the blog or follow me on Twitter & tweet about this post to generate traffic & followers to help me promote this blog & my new business, and for everyone who does that, I will log one hour of pro bono coaching to a non-profit organisation. And just to make sure this is genuine, I am creating a public log showing all organizations who will receive the coaching, and the number of hours completed.
1- Tweet this post
and
2- follow me on Twitter (so I can keep track of tweets)
If you don't have a twitter account, post about this blog on your LinkedIn
Current number of blog followers = 3
Current number of twitter followers = 2
Current number of tweets about FreeMynd = 0
ps. If you happen to know of, or be involved in a non-profit support organization that can benefit from some life coaching or training, email me on max@freemynd.com.au so we can discuss in more detail.
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